Flood alarm

ABSTRACT

An alarm for indicating a sudden flow of liquid such as water or the like either into or out of a basement drain or the like at a predetermined rate of flow, the alarm being inoperable when the flow of liquid into the drain is at a predetermined low rate.

United States Patent McNally i [541 FLOOD ALARM [72] Inventor: Byron L.McNally, 1526 Scott Street, Chicago Heights, 111. 60411 [58] Field ofSearch ..340/239, 240, 243, 245-247, 340/242, 272; ZOO/81.9, 83; 73/155,228;

[451 Nov.21, 1972 2,663,861 12/1953 Heath ..340/272 X 2,749,536 6/1956Sperling ..340/242 2,679,655 6/1954 Perkins ..9/9 3,186,481 6/1965Foster ..73/l55 X Primary Examiner-John W. Caldwell AssistantExaminer-Daniel Myer Attorney-Francis T. Drumm [57] ABSTRACT An alarmfor indicating a sudden flow of liquid such as 9/9; 102/ 7 water or thelike either into or out of a basement drain or the like at apredetermined rate of flow, the alarm [56] References cued beinginoperable when the flow of liquid into the drain UNITED STATES PATENTSis at a predetermined low rate. 3,022,395 2/1962 Sear et al. ..l02/7 X 5Claims, 5 Drawing Figures r t 3 N 36 l 4 44 l Li I 28 46 1 FLOOD ALARMSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A principal object of the invention is toprovide an alarm system for indicating abnormal flow of liquid such aswater or the like into the floor drain of a basement or the like. f

Another object of the invention is to provide an alarm system which isoperable to detect and report either a flow into the drain at apredetermined high rate of flow or a drain back-up.

A further object of the invention is to provide an alarm system which isinoperative when water flows into the drain at a predetermined normalrate but is activated when a sudden surge of water enters the draineither through the grate or as a back-up from the sewer system.

Another object of the invention is .to provide an alarm apparatus inaccordance with the preceding apparatus which is easy tov install andwhich is characterized by ease and facility of manufacture.

'These and other objects of the invention will become apparent as thedescription proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is anelevational sectional view of an alarm system made in accordance withthe present invention illustrated in operative position in a floor drainpipe;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational sectional view of the alarm itselfshowing the relation of the several parts thereof; I

FIG. 3 is a sectional plan view taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 44 of FIG, 2; andI 7 FIG. is a schematic view illustrating the electrical circuit for thealarm of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawingsand more particularly to FIG. 1, the alarm of the present invention isindicated generally by reference numeral 10 and includes a housing 12within which is slidably received a receptacle 14. The alarm is placedwithin a drain pipe 16 having a conventional grate 18. In theillustrated embodiment, the drain pipe is mounted in a concrete floor20.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the alarm 10 has at the lower end thereof a cap22 having an upwardly extending annular ridge 24 dimensioned snugly toreceive the lower edge of the outer periphery of the hollow cylindricalhousing 12. In the alternative, the ridge 24 may be threadedly receivedon the outer periphery of the cylindrical housing. The cap 22 isprovided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced radially outwardlyextending lugs 26 which determine the position of the lower end of thehousing 12 within the drain pipe 16. The position of the upper end ofhousing 12 is determined by a plurality of circumferentially spacedspring clips 28, the outer ends of which snugly engage the innerperiphery of the drain pipe 16, as illustrated in mounted within thehousing 12 in the position illus-' trated in FIG. 2. Preferably, thehousing 12 is made of a suitable dielectric material such as plastic orthe like, but has imbedded therein aconductor 40 which is inelectrically conductive relation to the bottom of the battery 38 whichhas at the upper end thereof a terminal 42.

A contact 44 is mounted at the free end of a spring 46. The contacts 42and 44 together constitute a switch 43.

According to an important feature of the present invention, the contacts42 and 44 are engaged for energization of an audible alarm 46 whenliquid at a predetermined rate of flow enters the drain pipe 16 andfills the receptacle 30. When this occurs, the contact 44 engages thecontact 42 thus effecting energization of an electric circuit includingthe audible alarm 46 which may be a buzzer, hell, or the like.

It will be noted that water drainage at a normal rate will flow downthrough the annular space between the housing 12 and the drain pipe 16and will not enter the receptacle 30. Thus, the alarm system of thepresent invention will not be activated when fluid flows through thedrain pipe at a normal flow rate but will only be activated when fluidflows across the floor at a sufficient rate of flow to enter thereceptacle 30. It will be noted that the present alarm system will beoperative also in the event of inadvertent back-flow of the drainagesystem, filling of the receptacle 30 being effected when the back-fillreaches the top edge of the receptacle.

The alarm system of the present invention exhibits important advantagesover alarm systems heretofore known. For instance, the present system isnot responsive merely to a liquid level but us responsive to a drasticchange in rate of flow of liquid above the normal drainage rate.Applicant does not intend to be limited by the illustrated embodimentsince it is merely representative of his inventive concept. It iscontemplated that the present invention be used to detect a change inrate of flow of any liquid and is not by any means limited to drainwater.

I claim:

1. An alarm system for detecting a sudden flow of liquid at a relativelylarge rate of flow comprising a housing adapted to be snugly received ina floor drain pipe in spaced relation to the sides thereof, said housingincluding a compartment for a dry cell battery and a cup slidablymounted in superposed relation to a switch, said cup being normallybiased upwardly but being movable downwardly to engage said switch, saidswitch being connected in series with an audible alarm so that when aliquid such as water or the like flows at a predetermined rate, it willflow into said cup, close said switch and energize said audible alarm.

2. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein a cap is provided for thelower end of said compartment of the housing so that the battery may bereplaced when required.

upper end of said housing to cooperate with said tangs in maintainingthe housing in spaced relation to the side walls of the drain pipe.

5. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said audible alarm ispositioned between said battery and said cup.

1. An alarm system for detecting a sudden flow of liquid at a relativelylarge rate of flow comprising a housing adapted to be snugly received ina floor drain pipe in spaced relation to the sides thereof, said housingincluding a compartment for a dry cell battery and a cup slidablymounted in superposed relation to a switch, said cup being normallybiased upwardly but being movable downwardly to engage said switch, saidswitch being connected in series with an audible alarm so that when aliquid such as water or the like flows at a predetermined rate, it willflow into said cup, close said switch and energize said audiblealarm.
 1. An alarm system for detecting a sudden flow of liquid at arelatively large rate of flow comprising a housing adapted to be snuglyreceived in a floor drain pipe in spaced relation to the sides thereof,said housing including a compartment for a dry cell battery and a cupslidably mounted in superposed relation to a switch, said cup beingnormally biased upwardly but being movable downwardly to engage saidswitch, said switch being connected in series with an audible alarm sothat when a liquid such as water or the like flows at a predeterminedrate, it will flow into said cup, close said switch and energize saidaudible alarm.
 2. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein a cap isprovided for the lower end of said compartment of the housing so thatthe battery may be replaced when required.
 3. A system in accordancewith claim 2 wherein said cap is provided with a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced radially outwardly extending tangs for mountingthe housing in spaced relation to the walls of the drain pipe.
 4. Asystem in accordance with claim 3 wherein a plurality of spring clipsare mounted in circumferentially spaced relation on the outer peripheryof the upper end of said housing to cooperate with said tangs inmaintaining the housing in spaced relation to the side walls of thedrain pipe.